Top 10 stories of 2011: Earthquake, storms and politics, oh my!

1. Irene and Lee cause chaos

Jill-Ann Stolley - For the Maryland Gazette

County Councilman Daryl Jones shares an anecdote with members of the African American Leadership Forum at their Dec. 12 meeting in Severna Park. The council will consider measures to remove him Monday in light of his five-month prison sentence for failing to file his taxes.

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Laura-Chase McGehee - Maryland Gazette

Ted Torano stands on the sun porch of his parent’s home near Annapolis after Hurricane Irene smashed through the area.

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Joshua McKerrow - Maryland Gazette

The casket bearing former governor, comptroller and mayor of Baltimore William Donald Schaefer is carried into the State House on April 25.

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Laura-Chase McGehee - Maryland Gazette

John Tower, a contractor with Tower Co., stands atop a building in Annapolis to dissemble the remains of a chimney damaged in the August earthquake that shook the region.

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There were plenty of “havoc from Mother Nature” stories in 2011: The hottest July ever recorded, followed by an earthquake and then the wettest two-month period on record, mostly from storms named Irene and Lee.

Those two storms dumped record rain on the area and helped to break the previous two-month rainfall record with a whopping 23.7 inches. The previous mark was 19.04 inches, set in August-September of 1934.

The area dodged a direct hit when Hurricane Irene blew by the Delmarva Peninsula Aug. 27-28.

Low-lying areas of Queen Anne’s County, then Annapolis, were vacated as officials prepared for the worst, including high winds and a storm surge.

As Irene passed by the Delmarva, hurricane warnings were posted as close as Solomons Island, but the highest winds did not materialize. The path of the storm caused winds to actually drive water out of the Chesapeake Bay.

But power lines were toppled and power remained knocked out for over a week for thousands of Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers.

Then came Tropical Storm Lee.

The bulk of Lee’s deluge came in a short burst, in the wee hours of Sept. 9, spurring flash floods that caused more damage than the initially more frightening Irene. The downpour wiped out several area roads, and some took weeks or months to repair.

With the ground already saturated from Irene’s 4.6 inches of rain, Lee’s 4.3 inches had nothing to do but rush downstream in torrents. Sinkholes opened up where road crossings used to stand. One, on Patuxent River Road, swallowed a couple of cars.

— E.B. Furgurson III

2. Jones sentenced to prison

The County Council finished 2011 facing a difficult question: What will become of Councilman Daryl Jones’ seat?

Jones, a Severn Democrat, pleaded guilty in August to failing to file five years’ worth of federal tax returns. Prosecutors said he owed the government more than $108,000, which he has since repaid. In November, a U.S. District Court judge sentenced Jones to five months in federal prison, plus another six months under house arrest. He must report to prison by Jan. 23.

But the County Charter doesn’t have any provision that would force him to resign, meaning Jones’ spot on the council dais could remain empty through the middle of 2012 if he doesn’t step down. If he does, the council has 30 days to appoint his replacement, who also must be a Democrat from District 1.

Since Jones’ sentencing, opinions on what he should do next have run the gamut. Many in the county’s African-American community have called for Jones, the second African American to serve on the council, to stay. Others in District 1 have praised Jones as an effective leader who is responsive to his constituents.

But still others think he needs to go.

As for what Jones plans to do?

“You’ll hear something when I let you know,” he told reporters last month.

— Allison Bourg

3. Hit-and-runs cause fatalities

County roads saw a rash of hit-and-run accidents in 2011. There were at least eight hit-and-run accidents over the past year that resulted in serious injuries — half of which proved to be fatal.

All four fatal accidents occurred in the northern tip of the county.

In August, James Schreiber Jr., 38, a married father of two young children from Pasadena, was killed as he prepared to tow a vehicle on Route 100 near Oakwood Road in Pasadena during the morning rush hour.

A month earlier, Alex Canales Hernandez, 25, of Brooklyn, was killed while riding a bicycle near the intersection of Ritchie Highway and Bon Air Avenue in Brooklyn Park.

Police continue to search for those responsible after releasing surveillance photographs of both vehicles believed to be involved in the accidents, as well as descriptions of the drivers, police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said.

The other hit and run accidents that resulted in death occurred hours after a January snowstorm that coated the area with roughly eight inches of snow.

Richard Francis Oles, 77, of Pasadena, a celebrated John Hopkins University fencing coach, was killed in the early morning hours of Jan. 27, while walking in the 3900 block of Mountain Road.

Later that evening Dawn Gable, 43, of 246 Cross Creek Dr., Glen Burnie was found dead in the street just outside of her house.

In November, Maximilian Hopkins Bode, 22, of Pasadena, plead guilty to leaving the scene of a fatal accident in the death of Oles. Bode, who was driving the Ford F-350 with a snow plow that struck Oles, was sentenced to 60 days in jail.

In October, police charged Gable’s neighbor Steven Orlando Smith, 45, with knowingly giving police false information about the accident which resulted in Gable’s death. Smith originally told police that he had found Gable lying in the of the road.

Investigators later concluded that Smith had in fact hit Gable with his vehicle before calling police to report the accident. However, investigators believed that Smith was not responsible for Gable’s death.

Blood tests and forensic evidence indicated that Gable was intoxicated and standing in the roadway when she was struck. Smith is scheduled to appear in court in February.

— Ben Weathers

4. Uproar over Linthicum light rail

When a 59-year-old man was beaten and robbed while walking near the Linthicum light rail station in February, residents became outraged.

Many people believed the two Baltimore County teens charged in the attack rode into town on the light rail, though police never confirmed that claim.

The incident triggered an impassioned community plea to shut down the Linthicum light rail stop.

After receiving calls for the station to be closed, the Maryland Transit Administration introduced a proposal to reduce the station’s hours, closing at 8 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.

Nearby residents argued during a public hearing that the light rail has brought crime into their community, and they want it shut down.

Others testified during the hearing, and in writing, that they were opposed to closing the station or reducing its hours because they used it regularly for transportation.

The state ultimately decided not to change the station’s hours, but train operators are encouraging southbound riders to use the larger, well-lit North Linthicum stop as a transfer point instead of the secluded Linthicum station.

The state also hired an independent consultant to study the entire light rail line. The study is scheduled to be completed this spring.

— Tim Pratt

5. Leopold subject of grand jury probe

County Executive John R. Leopold has been the subject of a 10-month inquiry by the Maryland State Prosecutor.

Secretaries, the chief of police, every member of Leopold’s five-man security detail, and other employees have been called to testify before a secret panel.

Investigators also have subpoenaed reams of the county executive’s private and public schedule, which detailed Leopold sending county detectives on errands to a cobbler, a costume shop, the pharmacy and the airport.

Given the documents subpoenaed and the positions of those called to testify, the investigation appears to center on whether Leopold has misused county resources. The head of the county firefighters’ union said in March that an investigator contacted him about a $4,000 campaign check that Leopold sent a county detective to retrieve. 

Leopold has admitted dispatching the officers on personal errands, and curtailed use of the detail after public records showed they had amassed more than $85,000 in overtime in one year.

Since the probe began, the county police department has restructured how it provides security for Leopold.

— Erin Cox

6. The sluggish economy

Anne Arundel County residents, like their compatriots in the rest of the nation, continued to be hit with foreclosures, unemployment and delayed retirements because of the sluggish recovery from the deep recession that ended in mid-2009.

Metropolitan Regional Information Systems estimated that while 4,144 homes were sold in the county last year, about 25 percent were “distressed sales” — either foreclosures or short sales.

The county had an unemployment rate of 5.8 percent in November, lower than the state’s 6.4 percent. An estimated 21,000 county residents were unemployed in November, the latest month for which statistics were available.

The Maryland Gazette reported on residents affected by these economic woes throughout the year.

— Shanteé Woodards

7. William Donald Schaefer dies

He was passionate. He was outspoken. He was a curmudgeon if there ever was one. And he was ours.

William Donald Schaefer, Maryland’s one-of-a-kind politician, died in April at the age of 89.

The former governor, comptroller, Baltimore mayor and Baltimore councilman had been in declining health and had been recently hospitalized with pneumonia.

His record of public service is not likely to be matched: Five decades of serving the people, whether taking a dip in the National Aquarium seal pool as a promotional stunt or exhorting government workers to “Do it now!”

There was a side to Schaefer’s personality that many had a distaste for, especially in his later years.

Schaefer, who lived in Pasadena for several years, famously asked a young female aide to “walk again” as she ran errands during a Board of Public Works meeting.

And when running for re-election as comptroller against former Anne Arundel County Executive Janet S. Owens, he mocked her as “Mother Hubbard.”

After he lost that election, Schaefer told reporters: “I’m me, and if you think I’m ever going to change and keep my mouth shut and try to be politically correct, I’m not.”

But most Marylanders choose to remember Schaefer for his many bright moments.

Schaefer’s funeral filled a Baltimore church, with politicos of all stripes paying their respects. A large honor guard and helicopter flyover were featured at a committal service at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens in Baltimore County, where Schaefer’s remains were placed in a mausoleum.

The inscription was just what he wanted: “He cared.”

— Pamela Wood

8. Comprehensive rezoning process

The county completed its once-a-decade rezoning process in December, changing the zoning of dozens of north county properties and bringing to light public concerns about growth and infrastructure. 

Two of the most contentious proposals were in Pasadena, where heavy traffic already frustrates commuters.

The county didn’t grant the Brumwell family’s request to rezone their property on Mountain Road for a “big box” store. The issue divided the community, with many residents expressing concerns about traffic and others saying Pasadena needs a store like Target or Lowe’s Home Improvement.

But the county did rezone a 26-acre parcel on Long Hill Road, just south of Mountain Road, for high-density housing. Neighbors were adamantly opposed, saying the increase in density from one unit per acre to 15 units per acre will exacerbate traffic problems and change their way of life.

Councilman Derek Fink, R-Pasadena, abstained from voting on both issues after the county’s Ethics Commission advised him that due to a business relationship with a developer who has ties to both properties his participation might create the appearance of a conflict of interest.

One of the least contentious rezonings came early in the process, when the county cleared the way for the state to develop a port facility at the old General Services Depot in Glen Burnie.

If the Maryland Port Administration eventually buys the surplus federal land, it could mean new jobs and increased commercial truck traffic.

— Tim Pratt

9. Smith’s AACC retirement package

The details of outgoing Anne Arundel Community College president Martha A. Smith’s retirement package became a source of contention in 2011.

After the Maryland Gazette reported that Smith stood to gain roughly $1 million after stepping down as president in August, readers were split in their support of Smith and concern for that the college was acting responsibly with its finances.

News of Smith’s contract came just weeks after the college’s Board of Trustees decided to double fees for senior citizens taking non-credit course at the college from $40 to $80 per semester.

The college’s decision prompted the County Council to pass a resolution calling for a performance audit of the college’s finances. The college questioned the legality of the resolution, and in November, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office sided with the college.

Those on the County Council who were critical of the college’s handling of Smith’s compensation became even more incensed when the college released contradicting information of the deal signed by Smith and then College’s Board of Trustees chairman James H. Johnson Jr. in June.

New details emerged again in August, when Fretwell and Johnson said that Smith would in fact collect $703,000 as part of a new employment contract in which she would remain on the college’s staff as a consultant working at least one day a week for fives years after her retirement.

County auditor Teresa Sutherland plans to present the County Council with the results of a financial audit of the college finances during next year’s budget process.

— Ben Weathers

10. Earthquake rattles coast

On Aug. 23 at 1:45 p.m., temblors from a 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered near Louisa, Va., rolled through the area and were felt as far north as Maine, as far south as Georgia, and as far to the northwest as Michigan and Canada.

In Anne Arundel County, police and firefighters received dozens of calls in the first few minutes. The only injury reported was in south county, where a man fell in the shower and had to be taken to the hospital with minor injuries.

But physical damage from the quake was more than china falling at area homes and products tumbling from store shelves.

A water main break in Gambrills created a sinkhole.

Part of the roof collapsed at Magothy River Middle School and damage was reported at Northeast High School.

Annapolis and Anne Arundel opened their emergency operations centers. The Circuit Court and other government offices both here and in Washington, D.C., closed early.

But once things settled down and people learned that loved ones were fine and most structures had escaped damage, things returned to normal.

— E.B. Furgurson III